Introduce a noob to DACs and amps.

I have been swallowing up a whole load of information from this site for the last while and and currently waiting on delivery of my first set of proper headphones (Senn HD598).

I have also been looking a lot at the possibility of a portable amp for my ipod and a dac for when using my pc as I currently output straight from the mobo.

I have been mainly looking at Fiio products as they seem to be well recommended to new users and those on a budget. I am not limiting myself to those products, but focusing on them until I have my head round it and then can look into more exotic solutions.

If only considering portable options, so using my ipod classic, I understand it is not possible to extract a digital signal. In which case a dac/amp combo such as the E7 or E17 would be wasteful and an amp only such as the E11 will do the job.

If wanting to listen from my pc, I would ideally want a dac and an amp to get the best sound.

I was looking at the E9 amp, but I understand that need either the E7 or E17 with it to use the dac portion of those devices.

However both E7 and E17 and be connected to a pc via usb and does not need the E9. So the question is, is there a significant improvement in the amplification from the E9 compared to either the E7 or E17 to warrant the extra ~£100? Except for a lovely big tactile knob top fiddle with of course. :D

I would go for the E9/E7 Or E17 combo. The 598s are rated at 50 ohms impedance and that means that do require some driving so the more power at your fingertips the better. My old HD280s are only rated at 64 ohms yet when I amplify them via the E9 they really come to life and this is most noticable with the bass impact. If you decide to upgrade from the 598s to something requiring even more power then you will have it lready to hand. The E7 can be used as a stand alone portable so you get a multi function approach.

I have been swallowing up a whole load of information from this site for the last while and and currently waiting on delivery of my first set of proper headphones (Senn HD598).

I have also been looking a lot at the possibility of a portable amp for my ipod and a dac for when using my pc as I currently output straight from the mobo.

I have been mainly looking at Fiio products as they seem to be well recommended to new users and those on a budget. I am not limiting myself to those products, but focusing on them until I have my head round it and then can look into more exotic solutions.

If only considering portable options, so using my iPod classic, I understand it is not possible to extract a digital signal. In which case a dac/amp combo such as the E7 or E17 would be wasteful and an amp only such as the E11 will do the job.

If wanting to listen from my pc, I would ideally want a dac and an amp to get the best sound.

I was looking at the E9 amp, but I understand that need either the E7 or E17 with it to use the dac portion of those devices.

However both E7 and E17 and be connected to a pc via usb and does not need the E9. So the question is, is there a significant improvement in the amplification from the E9 compared to either the E7 or E17 to warrant the extra ~£100? Except for a lovely big tactile knob top fiddle with of course. :D

I currently have my brother's very old handmedowns of HD590's. They still sound pretty good and I've replaced the pads. Currently I run from the onboard ALC898 -> Yamaha Mini System's RX-E400 -> HD590. I dabble in a variety of music and games and from what I've read regarding accurate positioning with surround I need to get a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD with a decent built in DAC -> small portable amp.

Could anyone else confirm that this setup would work well enough for me?

I also have started a more mobile setup with Skullcandy MMM's (I know, I know, but they were half price!). The source will be my AT&T Galaxy S3 and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a DAC/Amp that may possibly suit both my home computer/mobile needs. From what I've read so far I'm interested in the Leckerton UHA-6s MkII's but if anyone else better combo's I'm all ears. My music range is actually very broad so I don't really have requirements but I would like to try to start off with neutral then go from there.